Revelations
by OffCenterFold
Summary: Friendship is a wonderful thing and creates quite a bond.  It helps to have friends around when you learn some heavy things about yourself...  This takes place after the events of Remission in one possible timeline.
1. Chapter 1

Chester's Revelation

They'd been working for three months. Three months dedicating every waking moment to rebuilding the homes they'd lost; improving what had been Toltus and evolving it into the town that would be known as the city of Miguel.

He straightened, eying the barely-existent shadows under the noonday sun, and stretched. "I need a break," he sighed.

Cress nodded and set down the hammer in his hand. Mint joined them. "I can make us a light lunch," she offered.

"No need," a cheery voice piped up from overhead.

Overhead?

All three of them looked up. A figure they hadn't seen in three months appeared, descending rapidly from the sky on a heavily-loaded broom. "I've brought a picnic!"

"You? Brought a picnic? Sorry, I'm not in the mood to die," Chester said.

"Hey!" Arche glared at him as she landed and unloaded the large, heavy sack from the end of the broomstick. "I so happen to be a really good cook!"

"It HAS been a hundred years," Cress pointed out. "She could've gotten better."

Chester eyed his friend skeptically and shook his head. They looked at Arche, who had changed noticeably. She dressed differently, for one thing. More conservatively. She could blend more easily into a town's population the way she was dressed now. Actually, it was a flattering outfit. A deep aqua bodice fitted her now generous figure snugly; her waist was still narrow but her hips flared nicely beneath a flowing skirt of a pink several shades darker than her hair. Beneath the bodice she wore a pale blue shirt which showed her figure flatteringly without exposing much.

"Wow, Arche, you look great! I LOVE your outfit!" Mint ignored the boys and rushed to embrace her friend. The wind was nearly knocked out of her at Arche's return hug. "Oof!"

"Sorry," Arche relented. "I've just... really... REALLY missed you guys. Well, you two for sure," she winked at Cress. Chester glared some more.

"Anyway, I brought some lunch for everyone, and some extra tools and nails and stuff." Arche pulled things out of the large sack, handing them off to a very bemused Cress and an equally amused Mint. Chester refused to have any part of it.

"And this is for you," she said, pulling a small sealed scroll out of the bag. It looked as though it predated their adventure by some time.

Chester raised his eyebrows as she stepped close to him and offered him the scroll. "What is it?"

"It's a letter. It's from someone important. I think you'll want to read it alone," she said. Up close, he saw that her outfit and her figure weren't all that had changed. She still radiated that energy but she looked a little older. The big difference was in her eyes... Meeting them with his own, he saw compassion, warmth, and concern reflected in among the pink. "I know some of what it says but I've never read it. I know what it says because I spent time with the person who wrote it. He sent it to me even though I hadn't seen him in a few years. Why don't you eat and then read it?"

Chester shook his head. He was dying of curiosity, but he could hardly admit it in front of her. After all, it had only been three months for him. He still hadn't quite resolved how he felt about her. "Nah, I'm sure it's no big deal. Lemme see," he said, taking it from her. He tried to be nonchalant about it, but he could feel her eyes on him as he walked across the bridge to what had been and would be again the town square.

Arche had turned to Cress and Mint and was spreading out the picnic. He could see them asking her what was in the letter but felt a surge of gratitude as she adamantly refused to tell them. Her voice carried well.

Taking a deep breath, Chester studied the scroll in his hands. He noticed a scrape that hadn't been there yesterday; at least, he was pretty sure it hadn't. The scroll was tied with a little red ribbon.

It reminded him of the ribbons his sister had worn in her hair when she was little.

Carefully, he untied the knot and the ribbon came loose in his hand. The scroll retained its rolled shape; he wondered how long Arche had kept it. He slit the wax seal open with a fingernail. It, too, looked familiar; though it had been blurred by time, he thought it might be something like his father's seal.

He unrolled the scroll and blinked to make sure his eyes were clear, then stared across the clearing at Arche. It was his father's handwriting. Arche had known his father? He began to read.

_"Dearest Son,_

_"I get the feeling that Arche knows something she can't tell me, so I'm writing you this letter now just in case. She knows what I'm writing about, though. When I first met her, I knew she was something special. When I learned she was one of the four Legendary Heroes, I knew she could be trusted to carry this letter to you. She disappeared when you were born, which is when your mother and I realized she knew more than she could tell us._

_"You are my firstborn son, and I have always been proud to bursting since the moment I first held you in my arms. I don't doubt that whatever path your life takes, you will always do me proud, and I can only hope that she will be returning this letter to me so I can tell you in person. If not, it's because things are as I and your mother feared might be the case, and we are no longer able to tell you. You are six now, and your mother and I hope you will love your little brother or sister when he or she is born, even if you don't seem very happy about it now!"_

Chester laughed painfully at that. He remembered well how unenthused he'd been at the time!

_"In case I haven't already told you, you're old enough to know now that you are descended from a truly great man. Klaus F. Lester, one of the four legendary heroes, was your great-grandfather."_

Chester dropped the letter in shock. "My... What?" Slowly he bent over to pick it up and returned to where the others waited. "Is this for real?" he demanded.

"Have you read all of it?" Arche asked.

He shook his head.

_"...was your great-grandfather. His story, the love story of him and of Milard, who waited for him though she did not know if he would ever return, was well known throughout the world. Unfortunately, their daughter (my mother) didn't get along with them for her own reasons and left home. She married a half-elf, Davis. Your aunts Loura and Evara moved to Arlee when I was little. Arche can tell you stories of my youth, since I'd rather not commit them to paper. You might want to try to find your aunts someday. They were nice enough as big sisters go._

_"So that's the big 'family secret' - but it's something you can be proud of, son. Tell your little sisters or brothers, if we haven't already. Your family heritage is a wonderful blessing. You're one-eighth elven, but we don't really know if that will mean anything. However long, always live well and proudly. And carefully, as your mother reminds me to add._

_"Don't tell this to Arche. When I first met her I thought she was quite a woman, but it didn't take long before I realized she was waiting for someone special. By now maybe she's even found him again. I say again because, though she never said as much, I think she'd already met him but in the future, which she won't talk about. With any luck, she's come back from wherever she went, and she's helped to raise you alongside us. She left very suddenly when Cress was born; it was the same day we told her you were expected. She never told us why but your mother figures that it was something future-related. Your mother is a very smart woman. And no, dear, I'm not writing that because you're reading over my shoulder as I write. Then again, son, you're reading this now, so something happened that we didn't expect. Or want. Don't get too close to Arche, Chester. I don't ever want to see you hurting._

_"With all the love in our hearts, your parents:_

_"Travis Alaistair and Rachel Morrisson Burklight._

_"PS - No, in case you're wondering, your mother is not related to the famous Morrissons."_

Chester had clutched the letter so tightly to his chest that it nearly ripped. His eyes burned and he had turned away. It was Arche he heard telling the other two to let him go; that he would need time, and that the letter was from his father. He fled into a part of the South Forest that wasn't often traveled; it wasn't on the way to Yggdrasil, and it wasn't on the way to the good hunting grounds.

It was dark before he finally returned, and three days more before he could tell Mint and Cress about his relationship with Claus. He never discussed the last paragraph of the letter with anyone, but it burned a hole in his heart. It must be Cress. He was sure she had fallen for Cress.


	2. Chapter 2

It had been almost a month, and Mint was still shaking her head over what Chester had told them. He'd said the letter his father had written indicated that Claus was his great grandfather! How… odd. And yet, it made sense; the two men had borne some slight resemblance to one another. Their coloring was slightly different, but they had the same silver-blue hair, the same eyes, the same mannerisms…

"I think it's cool," Cress had said, and for him that was the end of it. She almost envied her fiancé and how easily he accepted these things. Chester's mother had been a Morrisson, but she claimed not to be related to the – how had the letter put it? – "the famous Morrissons". She doubted that, but realized that the link must be tenuous at best. After all, the Morrisson line had magic; therefore, they had strong Elven blood. In fact, she seemed to recall seeing a note in Trinicus D. Morrisson's book that the Morrisson men tended to seek out half-Elven wives, in order to carry on the dynasty.

"That doesn't make sense, though," she said aloud, not realizing the words had escaped until she heard them. Fortunately, no one was around to hear. Chester was working on his own house, doing some construction he had said he didn't want them to see yet, and Arche was up on the roof with Cress, ostensibly giving him directions. Mint figured she was probably just being an amusing distraction. It was good; Arche had had a rough time of it for the last couple of decades. Chester had told her and Cress that Arche had left abruptly, according to his father's letter, as soon as she'd learned that Chester was expected. Arche had since said something about spending the time with Brambert and Arsia, only Arsia was a statue at the time and Brambert still wasn't being very good company. So they'd hung around, two extremely depressed, extremely powerful mortals and a statue, for most of Mint's life.

Mint bit her lip at the thought. It wasn't right! Maybe she could learn something from Trinicus' book. Maybe there was a way to go back those eighteen years and do something to fix things.

Her mind made up, the healer stood. Maybe she couldn't cast the spell but she knew there would be others who could and would do so at her request. But first, she had to find it.

None of them had touched the book since their return; they'd all been absorbed in the rebuilding of Toltus and making homes for themselves in more than just the physical sense. The world was a different place and it was taking some adjustment; they had all lost family. There was time now to grieve, scattered irregularly among the long periods of work,

She blew the dust of time and construction away from the heavy red tome. Memories flooded through her at the feel of the pebbly leather under her fingers and she smiled nostalgically.

They'd carried this book through so many battles, so much history (future and otherwise), and it was still largely unmarked by them all. But as she pulled it off the shelf, Mint's fingers slipped and the book crashed heavily to the floor.

"Oh no!" she cried out, kneeling as though afraid it was injured. Indeed, she inspected it as carefully as she might do any other patient. The book seemed undamaged by the fall, but as she opened it she noticed the binding seemed a bit loose. Then she realized that it wasn't the binding but a paper wedged inside it. Curiosity won out and she wiggled it carefully free.

Unfolding it, she glanced at the handwriting which seemed to be very familiar.

"_Trinny, my darling sweet Trinny," _it began. Mint blinked, surprised. It was hard to imagine anyone calling the stern, formidable magic user "Trinny"! She looked away from the brittle paper, uncertain.

"Whatcha got there, Mint?" Arche chose that moment to swoop through the doorway. "Oooh, a letter! Looks old. Who's it from?"

Mint shook her head. "I just found it in Mr. Morrisson's book, the one he sent to Cress and I when he sent us back in time. I don't know, I just read the greeting."

"Lemme see?" Mint shook her head at Arche's demand.

"I don't think we ought to be reading it," she cautioned.

"Aren't you the least little bit curious?"

Mint had to admit she was. "But that doesn't make it right. We should bring the book back to him, with the letter, and not read it."

"Fine. You don't have to read it," Arche said, smirking. "But I do!"

"Hey!" Mint was startled as the sorceress snatched the letter out of her hands. Mint let go so as not to damage it.

"Trinny? She called him Trinny? I wonder who—" Arche sobered up abruptly. "Mint… I think maybe you should read this." Biting her lip, she handed the letter back to the healer. "I didn't read the whole thing, just the signature."

"The signature?" Mint echoed. Her eye ran down the page until she saw the name. The handwriting. Arche thought she could hear a click as things fell into place.

Mint had taken killing hits and barely flinched. She had endured prison and her mother's death, trekked hundreds of miles through hostile terrain, and never so much hinted at weakness. Only once in all that treacherous time had she collapsed, when Cress had abruptly and mysteriously been transported away (as it had turned out) during the battles at Valhalla by Midgards.

Now, her eyes rolled up in her head and Arche barely kept her skull from clunking heavily on the ground as Mint keeled over in a dead faint.

"Mint? Mint! CRESS! GET DOWN HERE!" Arche inhaled deeply, to raise her voice even louder. "CHEEEEESSSTEEEERRR!" Frantically, she tried to wake Mint.

Both men came running, Chester only moments behind his friend. "What happened?" Cress was already kneeling by Mint. Arche had risen and was casting Ice Arrows into a bucket. "And what are you doing!"

"She fainted," Arche said. Cress was rubbing Mint's hands, patting her face and calling her name. "I figured if we douse her with cold water, maybe she'll wake up."

"That's solid ice!" Chester almost squeaked.

"Got any better ideas, smart guy?"

Mint saved them from another squabble by opening her eyes. "Oh… What happened?"

"You fainted," Arche said simply. "So I called the guys."

"I fainted? Oh," Mint said again as her gaze fell on the letter in her hand. "The letter… I guess you're right, Arche. It's definitely from my mother."

"A letter from your mother?" Chester looked skeptical. "After all this time?"

Mint nodded. "It wasn't addressed to me. It was in Mr. Morrisson's book, addressed to him."

"What does it say," Cress asked softly.

Mint shook her head. "I haven't read it."

"Except the first line," Arche chimed in and quoted it. "Trinny, my dear darling Trinny!" she trilled.

"Trinny?" Chester snorted, exchanging a glance with Cress. The blond warrior looked less impressed but still amused.

"Yeah, somehow I can't picture Trinicus D. Morrisson as a 'Trinny' either," Cress replied, "but something tells me I don't want to know the rest of this letter."

Arche shook her head adamantly. "Well I do! Go on, Mint, read it!"

Mint sighed. She, too, was curious. Had it just been a friendly greeting? Meryl had been one of those people who gave everyone she cared about nicknames…

"…_Trinny, _

"_First, I wanted to say thank you. You've been so kind and helpful through the whole thing that I'm sorry to see you return home. Still, this is what we discussed and I haven't changed my mind. I'm not the marrying sort and I know that this is the right choice for me, possibly for both of us._

"_You are a good man and extremely talented in many ways." _Mint felt her cheeks warming. It felt so odd to read what seemed to be a love letter from her own mother! _"I will always treasure the extreme honor you have paid me by giving me such gifts as your friendship and my daughter."_

"He WHAT?" Arche shrieked as Mint stopped reading, her jaw dropping and her mind whirling. The room threatened to go dark again.

"_I am going to name her Mint, for your gardens where we spent so many pleasant days – and yes, darling, some very lovely nights."_

Mint looked a little green. Chester seemed to be torn between trying not to laugh and freaking out completely. Cress looked as though he'd been hit over the head with a large and heavy object.

Mint shook her head and continued._ "Still, I think it's for the best that we keep our distance. You will meet someone who will marry you, and the time is soon, I think. We have shared too much to become strangers, but I fear I cannot let my daughter know who you are to her until she has come into her own. I beg your forgiveness, Trinny, and your indulgence. The time will come and all will be put right._

"_With very much love and Blessings, your Merry."_

Arche had all but turned purple. "Holy Martel! Morrisson's your father!" she finally burst out. "Wow," her voice hushed quickly. "That must be why you're such a powerful healer! Both of them were really strong; you're like practically a goddess with a bloodline like that!"

The other three stared at her in mute bewilderment.

"Oh, of course. I forget sometimes that you guys weren't there when things were still happening. I was hiding for the last eighteen years, but I wasn't out of the loop."

"I hope you disguised yourself better than you did whenever you sneaked into Ymir," Chester found his smirk.

"So Mr. Morrisson really is your father," Cress said more slowly. Mint still seemed too shocked to speak. "I wonder if he's waiting for you to come to him and say something."

"I bet he is! Come on, Mint, I'll give you a ride!" Arche hopped back on her broomstick and offered a hand to the blonde, who had what Chester called a "two by four expression" as, in his opinion, it made someone look as though they'd just been hit by one. Arche had retorted, the first time she heard him say it, that he said so only because he knew what it was like from personal experience.

She had been surprised when he didn't try to deny it.

"No, let's all go together," Cress said. "It's less dangerous, and that way we can be there for each other."

Mint nodded. "I… I think that's best," she said slowly. "What I want to know is, why didn't my mother want me to know?"

"There's only one person who can answer that," Cress said reasonably. "Shall we?"

The trip to the hereditary Morrisson house didn't take long at all, and it wasn't long before they were knocking on the door. When Trinicus opened it, he looked at them for a long moment and an odd sadness fell over him.

"Come in," he said. Mint still clutched the book to her chest, and the letter was tucked inside the front cover. "I see you found the letter."

Mint could only nod.

"So… Welcome home… Daughter." Trinicus D. Morrisson suddenly looked much older, sadder. Still, the smile was welcoming and warm under the weight of years of sadness and secrecy.

"You don't have to call me father. I understand why your mother didn't want you to know."

Mint shook her head. "I don't."

Trinicus raised an eyebrow and sighed. "She never told you anything about it, did she?"

Blonde hair swished as the young healer shook her head again. "The only reason I know is because of this."

Morrisson nodded in turn. "Ah. Yes, I left that in there deliberately. I just didn't realize you wouldn't have found it until now."

Cress managed to look embarrassed. "We should have come sooner to visit, after all the help you gave us."

"No, not at all! There's been too much for all of us to do, Cress. I must say, I know Marie and Miguel would be very proud of you. You've grown up quite a bit in the last century or so," the old healer grinned. He was not a handsome man, but when he smiled there was an endearing quality, a sweetness that belied his age and experiences.

They all laughed, and as the maid served tea, Morrisson began to tell his side of things.

"You see, when we were young and foolish – and I thank you now, Arche, for not coming around then – we were all convinced of our immortality. All except Meryl. We all thought she was being ridiculous, always being so careful and hoarding her abilities 'against the time they'd be needed,' she said.

"I think that's why she was able to manifest so strongly after her death to free you two," Trinicus added thoughtfully. "One thing about magical power, especially divine power, is that it acts as a focus for that old adage, 'where there's a will, there's a way.' If you save up enough of your energy, you can use it to direct things not normally under your control, even reaching to other planes. I'm still studying that, Mint, but I'll be glad to open my books to you, if you'd like."

Mint's eyes lit up at the thought. Her friends smiled indulgently.

"The problem with Meryl is she was a little too independent for what the rest of us thought was her own good. She had to do everything for herself, up to and almost including imprisoning Dhaos. It made her very strong and very proud, but she was also very fragile at heart.

"I loved her from the time we were kids," Trinicus said softly. "She was always the woman for me, from the time I figured out what women were for. But I wasn't the man for her. No man was. I guess I was the closest she found, though. She loved me very much as best as she was able.

"Bah, listen to me," he said, standing abruptly. "Blathering like an old man, and me only barely in my forties!" He laughed, and it only sounded a little forced.

He refilled the teacups and sat back down. "The short version is, as you read in that letter (and I'm glad you did, for it makes things much easier on me) your mother didn't want to share the responsibility. I think, however, that it was mostly that she didn't want to share YOU. She knew she would always be able to count on me, should something happen to her, but as long as I can remember, she wanted nothing in the world more than a daughter of her own. So she came to me, and we made an arrangement.

"I'll spare you the details," he grinned as four faces turned various shades of red. Chester and Cress were sniggering a little, but were no less embarrassed than the girls.

"She was quite an amazing woman, Meryl… I only wish she could be here today."

Mint's eyes welled, but she took comfort in the fact that Trinicus' did as well.

"We'll leave you two to talk more," Arche said softly. When she turned to go, neither of the two young men followed. She took an arm of each of them and marched them out, Chester protesting furiously.

Mint laughed. "One thing I'll never understand about my mother," she said finally, "is how she could live without being surrounded with her friends."

"She always was," Trinicus answered. "She always was. She just didn't need to be physically with them all the time. Then, when you came along, she seemed to want to keep you to herself, so we respected that. Miguel and Marie always grumbled about that; they wanted Cress to grow up with you instead of just Chester. For some reason they thought he'd be a bad influence."

They laughed together again. "Chester's a good friend."

Trinicus nodded. "He is. They all are, and I pray you never be separated from them for long."

Mint shook her head. "No. I don't intend to be. Unlike my mother, I'm much happier having my family with me," she said with a warm smile for the man in front of her. "ALL of my family."


	3. Chapter 3

Cress' Revelation

He didn't know what to make of the whole thing. Mint had finally learned who her father was. Chester had found out that he was related to Claus. It seemed that among all his friends, everyone else bore ties of blood to another, somehow. He was the only one alone, without any real family left.

The realization hurt.

It wasn't the same. It counted, but it wasn't the same. More than anything, Cress wished that his own parents were still alive.

He still hadn't spoken to his Uncle Olson since that horrible night in Euclid, when everything had begun… He still hadn't forgiven the man, or his aunt Joanne, for their complicity in his abduction. Although things had worked out well in the end, the betrayal had been devastating, especially coming so immediately after his parents' horrible deaths, and Ami's, and the entire destruction of Toltus.

And of course, he would be marrying Mint once the city was rebuilt. Trinicus D. Morrisson would be giving away the bride, and Chester would stand as his own best man. Arche would be the maid of honor, although Mint was having a rather difficult time of convincing her friend to leave the broom out of the wedding party. THOSE were amusing discussions! And afterward, he too would be related to the Morrissons, although only by marriage.

Still, he didn't consider himself as having any living blood ties. And his wedding was only a few days away.

It had taken most of a year to rebuild Toltus into what they had already begun calling the city of Miguel. People had flocked to the site, eventually, to help out. After the first weeks of slow solitary labor, the friends had felt like half of Aseria had come at some point! Now, quiet moments were few and Mint at least was not involved in the construction at all; in fact, she had spent most of the time she wasn't preparing for the upcoming nuptials in playing hostess and feeding the masses. Many brought food as well as building supplies, and even though the buildings for the stores had not been finished, shopkeepers were already moving in and making their wares available at surprisingly reasonable prices.

None of them were ever left alone for very long; Arche had found it easier to escape on her broom and had always been willing to give any of them a literal lift out of the area should they need to take a break. He was constantly surrounded by friends, old and new alike. When he wasn't planning the city or the wedding, Cress was working on reestablishing the Albane School as a center for martial education. It pained him that he was virtually the only survivor. None of the younger students had survived the attack on Toltus. Master Tristan had, however, and he had been indispensable.

Cress had never felt more alone.

He felt that he had no right to complain; after all, his friends were some of the best family anyone could ask for. He had survived not one but three separate battles with that supremely destructive force known as Dhaos, and learned a lot in the interim about himself, his world, and the big picture. His home had been destroyed but he was rebuilding it with his own two hands and all his friends beside him. He had the love of a truly wonderful woman – he even dared to call her divine, which amused the healer – and he knew for a fact that the future was bright. It didn't change how he felt.

"Hey, lazybones, quit daydreaming and gimme a hand with this last support beam," Chester interrupted his friend's musings.

"Oh, sorry, Chester. This place is coming along really well," he admired the younger man's handiwork. "Who'd have thought you had the soul of an architect?" He smiled encouragingly, trying to shake off the dull depression that tugged at the corners of his mind.

"Thanks. I wish Ami could be here to see it." Chester's answering smile was wistful.

"Like she didn't worship the very ground you walk on already," Cress grinned at his friend.

Chester smirked at that. "Well of course!"

They wrestled the last beam into place. "I can finish up here. You should probably go check on the girls and make sure Arche hasn't poisoned anyone yet."

"Oh, come off it, Chester. I don't know why you're still so hard on her. You know she's gotten to be really good in the kitchen."

Cress almost missed the flash of agony in Chester's eyes before his friend responded. "I bet she bought that picnic food, and that Mint's been doing all the work ever since. What're you lookin' at?" He had noticed that Cress seemed to be studying him.

"Y'know, Chester, you've acted really strange around her since she came around. It's been months. Don't you think you should talk to her?"

Chester dropped his gaze, seeming to pay a lot of attention to an invisible spot on the floor. "About what?"

Cress sighed. "You really don't know?"

Blue eyes flashed in sudden frustration. "No, I don't know, Cress! All I DO know is that every time I talk to her she ticks me off! I can't have one conversation with that girl that doesn't end without us wanting to throw something at each other!"

"You're really crazy about her, aren't you," Cress said softly.

Broad shoulders slumped. "It doesn't matter, Cress. She's not crazy about me. She's meant to be with someone else. It was in Dad's letter."

"What?" Cress was genuinely surprised. Chester hadn't shown any of them the letter from his father wherein Travis Burklight revealed his relationship with Claus. In fact, it had been difficult for Chester to tell them even that much.

The archer reached into his quiver and pulled out the scroll. _"Don't tell this to Arche," _he read. _"When I first met her I thought she was quite a woman, but it didn't take long before I realized she was waiting for someone special. By now maybe she's even found him again. I say again because, though she never said as much, I think she'd already met him but in the future, which she won't talk about. With any luck, she's come back from wherever she went, and she's helped to raise you alongside us. She left very suddenly when Cress was born; it was the same day we told her you were expected. She never told us why but your mother figures that it was something future-related. Your mother is a very smart woman. And no, dear, I'm not writing that because you're reading over my shoulder as I write. Then again, son, you're reading this now, so something happened that we didn't expect. Or want. Don't get too close to Arche, Chester. I don't ever want to see you hurting."_

Cress stared at his friend. "Our parents actually knew Arche before we were born? Weird. Why did none of our parents ever mention anything?"

Chester shook his head. "It's right there in the letter. My mother knew there must have been a reason that Arche left; she knew that Arche had been to the future, so they probably decided not to tell us they'd known her until they knew why she left." Sadness washed over the two men as they realized that they did know the reason, now.

"So, Chester," Cress tried to be as casual as he could. "Who do you think it is?"

"Who do I think what is?" He was having a harder time shaking off the sadness than Cress had.

The blond fought the impulse to roll his eyes. "The person that Arche was waiting for."

"What difference does it make," he spat out, suddenly angry again. Without another word, he whirled, his blue hair fanning out behind him, and stormed down the stairs, leaving Cress scratching his head in complete befuddlement.

He wanted to run away and scream. Was Cress really that dense? That selfish? He had to know how Chester felt about Arche. But between the letter and the way she'd been acting, Chester was sure that his feelings were unrequited. After all, she'd clearly been crazy over Cress when they'd come back to his own time. She was being amazingly enthusiastic about his impending wedding to Mint, but she wasn't evil or selfish.

If anyone deserved that description, Chester thought, it would be him. How could be begrudge her the least bit of happiness?

Cress just didn't get it. The only thing in the entire world that made any sense to him was his love for Mint; sometimes he didn't even understand why she'd love someone like him in return. He didn't question it, though. She did, and that was enough for him. It was all he really needed.

But he didn't think Mint could help with this mess. His best friend was suddenly and inexplicably furious with him, and all he'd done was try to get him to admit that he liked Arche as more than a friend. It had been almost a year since their return to their own time. Why in the world was Chester acting so unhappy every time the sorceress showed up? Why did the mere mention of her name set him off? Cress sighed and descended the hidden stairs. Chester really was doing a great job with the house; Cress only wished he could be more helpful in other ways.

He decided to check in with Mint and see if she needed any help.

She and Arche were cleaning the kitchen, discussing the final seating arrangements, when he arrived.

"But we can't seat the Denbys with the Jordains," Mint was saying worriedly. "And there isn't enough room for them at the table with the Mawlis, unless we move the Wards and the Plotkins."

"So don't seat them there, put them on the other side of the room with the Endormans." Arche shook her head. "Hey, Cress. Will you please tell your bride to chill out?"

"Chill out," he said helpfully.

Arche snorted, rolling her eyes. "Thanks SO much."

"Glad to be of service," Cress grinned, his eyes on his bride.

"What's wrong, Cress?" Mint's perception startled the young man.

"How did you – oh. Never mind," he said as his grin turned rueful. "It's Chester. I'm worried about him," he continued, his eyes flickering towards Arche.

She apparently misinterpreted the look. "I'll let you two talk," she said. Her friends noticed the trepidation that flickered in her rose eyes.

"It's hard to tell which of them is more foolish, sometimes," Mint said with an odd twist of her lips that wasn't quite a smile.

Cress nodded. "I just had the weirdest conversation with Chester." He summed up the part of the letter that his friend had read to him, and the ensuing discussion. "He really has no idea that it's him. I want to get really mad at his dad, but there's no way he could have known. He was trying to protect his son."

Mint nodded. "It's silly, really. I wish they'd just get over it already. I've tried talking to Arche but she refuses to talk to Chester about it. Of all the things for that girl to get old fashioned about," she grumbled. Cress smiled again. "But I'm glad you're here, Cress," Mint's eyes were troubled again.

"What's wrong, more trouble with where to put the Mayor of Euclid?"

"Not the mayor, Cress. Your uncle."

"I don't want him there!" Suddenly Cress was furious. He struggled to keep from raising his voice. "I'm sorry, Mint, but I really do not want that man or his wife at our wedding."

"Cress…"

But he was adamant. "No. Not after what he did to my family. He is responsible for his own brother's death!"

"Cress!" Mint was shocked. "He hardly had a choice in the matter. It was horrible, what happened is horrible, and few know that as well as I do. But Cress, if you think about it, he was being badly threatened" she lowered her gaze, "and a lot of good eventually came from it. I wouldn't have met you otherwise."

Cress opened his mouth to argue, but sighed instead as the words processed. "I know, Mint." He took her hands in his own and held them to his heart. "And that, I don't regret. But he still betrayed my parents, and he betrayed me. He expected me to die, Mint. He condemned his own nephew to death!" The anger had twisted into pain, but Mint clung to his hands with as much fervor as he clung to hers.

"I know, Cress. Believe me, I know. But, beloved, he's the only family you have left. Please, at least read the letter. Then if you don't want him there, I'll never bring it up again."

Ardent blue eyes met his own. She radiated sincerity, and Cress knew she was right. A long moment passed before he sighed again. "Fine. I'll read it."

The smile that faltered into existence on her face brightened his world. For that alone, he'd read the letter. He didn't have to like it. Just read it.

_To my niece and nephew, if you will allow me still to call you such:_

~Well, that was good,~ Cress mused. ~At least the old man isn't dumb enough to think I could forgive him that easily.~

_The past two years have been purest hell for us. Your Aunt Joanne and I have wanted nothing more than to see you since we heard you survived that horrible night. _

_They would have destroyed Euclid, Cress. They destroyed Toltus, which is irredeemable. But I could not allow them to destroy Euclid as well. I feared for your life, but I feared for our world as much. What is one life compared to many? Had you died, I would have followed soon after. _

_Joanne and I could never have children of our own, as you know. Sometimes, when you were younger and would stay with us for a few days, I would pretend to myself that you were my son and not my brother's. It helped. _

_When Mars came that night, a week before you arrived, and told me what Toltus' fate was, I felt ill. He and your father had been best friends. He had been one of the people who carried your mother's chair at your presentation. I still can't understand what made him turn on everyone like that. He was like another brother to us. And there he stood, casually as you please, telling me that Euclid would be the next to fall, the castle and the city alike. All he wanted was your pendant. I didn't know what was so special about it, other than that it was something your father guarded carefully. I didn't know what it contained. I didn't know that it would tear the world apart. All I knew was that a friend I'd trusted had killed my brother and his wife, and was threatening the rest of my world. I thought that no pendant could possibly be worth so many lives. I didn't think he would harm __you__. I thought if he got the pendant, he'd leave you alone. He promised he'd take me instead, once he had what he wanted, and I believed him._

_I was wrong._

"Boy were you ever!" Cress' indignation was tempered by Mint's gentle hand on his arm and by the realization that Olson had truly had no choice, given what he knew. Then again, it could as easily be a story.

_Cress, I don't expect you to forgive us, but we hope you will. Your aunt Joanne had no idea about any of this until well after the fact. I slept on the couch for quite a while, and my back still hasn't recovered… But I'm sure that's not what you want to hear. _

_I understand you'll be married soon. I can hardly ask you to allow me to stand up by your side, under the circumstances, but I pray to all the gods that you will not bar me from your lives forever. You are all that's left of my family, Cress. I don't feel worthy of being related to such as you. If blood will out, then let mine reflect your valor, and not the other way around._

_Hopefully yours, _

_Olson Albane (And Joanne)_

Cress read the letter twice more.

Running a hand through his thick blond hair, he sighed and resumed pacing, not having noticed he'd begun to do so while he read. "What do you think, Mint? Can I trust him not to ruin everything?"

Mint looked hurt. "Cress, you read the letter. You know he never had anything but your best interests at heart. He didn't know any other way to protect you."

"Protection like that I don't need." His disgust caused Mint to flinch again.

She stood behind him and tried to rub his shoulders around his armor. "I don't get why you still wear this stuff, Cress. It's not like there's much risk of having to battle monsters here."

"Construction can be dangerous work, Mint. Can't be too careful." He grinned but it faded quickly. He leaned his head forward to allow her a little more room to reach his neck. "That feels really good."

"If you think this feels good, Cress…" There was a promising note in her voice that Cress decided he liked. A long moment passed as she worked at the knot in his neck.

"Hmmm?"

"If you think this feels good, just imagine how amazing it'll feel when you see your uncle again," she said more curtly.

It was Cress' turn to flinch. "Ouch."

"Sorry, but it's how I feel."

"You're probably right, Mint."

"I know I'm right. It's been so long, Cress. Especially as we reckon time. Don't you think it would only help to let go and let the wounds heal?"

"You're such a HEALER sometimes!" Cress turned around to face his bride, his exasperation clear. "I know you're trying to help, darling, but I need to think about it."

Mint nodded and chose her words carefully. "I'm sure Arche will be willing to take them on her broom if you decide they should be here."

Cress leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead and left the room, Chester's distress forgotten.

Unfortunately for him, the archer was nowhere to be found; this was the sort of thing Cress would usually turn to him for. He loved Mint with his entire being, but Chester was his childhood friend, who knew Olson and Joanne. Chester and he had suffered the same losses together. Part of him was convinced that Mint just couldn't understand how he felt.

It was almost dark when Chester finally reappeared. There were a few leaves entwined in his hair.

They spoke almost in unison. "Cress, I'm sor—"

"Chester, I need –"

They both laughed nervously.

"Me first this time, bro. I need to apologize to you for before. My problems with Arche are mine, not yours. I guess I better just get over it and move on with my life. Dwelling on the past doesn't do anyone any good. It's only hurting me." Indeed, he looked fully as miserable as he had that morning, before he'd exploded.

"Hey, it's okay," Cress said. "It's funny you should say that, though…" He tried to smile and failed.

"What is it, Cress?" Suddenly, Chester realized that the haunted look in Cress' eyes had nothing to do with their own little spat. Something was seriously bugging his friend.

"It's Uncle Olson and Aunt Joanne. Mint and I got a letter from them."

"What!" Chester was always quick to anger, and this time was no exception. The mention of those names set a fire blazing in his eyes that matched Cress' when he'd first heard of the missive. "What was he thinking?"

Cress' head hung low. "That's what I said. He wanted to apologize." He showed the letter to his friend, who read it quickly. "Mint says I should try to let it go."

Chester opened his mouth to speak, but to Cress' surprise he closed it again and looked thoughtful. "Y'know, I don't like it either, but your betrothed is not a foolish woman." The added, "unlike some people" slipped out before he could stop himself.

"Chester…"

"Sorry," Chester responded to the warning tone in his friend's voice but neither one of them really believed it. "What he did was wrong. But really, Cress, what would you have done? If it were Ami, and I thought they'd let her go… To save the world…" he shook his head.

Cress was surprised by the mention of Chester's sister, especially in such a context. It seemed to him that the little girl he remembered as if she had been his own sister was always present, but rarely mentioned. Chester would never forget her, never forgive her loss, but it seemed that even he was beginning to adjust to the idea. And this was the second time in one day he'd mentioned her. For Chester, that was a new record.

"To save the world… I wouldn't sacrifice anyone," Cress said slowly.

Chester found something fascinating on the floor that made him stare at it very hard. "Don't take this wrong, buddy, but… What if you were asked to sacrifice yourself?"

Now it was Cress' turn to open his mouth to speak without a sound escaping. A realization began to dawn on him, and finally words emerged. "You… expected to die that day."

Chester nodded, still staring at the floor.

"Chester – but why?"

Under blue fabric, the broad shoulders shrugged unevenly. "It was me or all of us. I figured what the hell, if it meant saving the world, even if it only meant giving you that one extra moment to escape…" His voice trailed off and he looked up, his eyes almost feverish. "Cress, you're my best friend. You're like a brother. You're the only family I had then. The only family I'll ever have," he said with a grimace. "And I'll be damned if I ever let anything hurt you. That's what family's about. Watchin' out for each other."

"Chester…" Cress stared at his friend, stunned. The intensity of the man's feelings shocked him to the core even more than the letter had. Something in his mind clicked.

Olson had seemed very nervous, that long-ago day, anxious and scared. He'd been almost desperate for Cress to spend the night at his house. Aunt Joanne had been concerned about him but she hadn't seemed as distracted as his uncle. Though it unnerved him, he'd just thought the old man looked older. Thinking back, the expression on his uncle's face as he'd pushed for Cress to agree to go to bed had been despair.

He hadn't wanted to give in to Mars' demands. He hadn't wanted to give Cress into evil hands, but he'd thought that they'd take the pendant and let him go, whereas he'd believed that withstanding the pressure would mean not just Cress' death, but everyone's. He'd truly believed he had no other choice, and he had given up his own happiness to save something that meant far more. Olson had expected to pay with his own life.

The more he thought about it, the more he had to believe it. Sometime during his ruminations, Chester patted him on the shoulder and left. At some point, he leaned against a tree and sank to the soil beneath. Olson had done much as Chester had. Of course, he only had the old man's word for it, but Mint and Chester were so adamantly in favor of giving him another chance. Maybe they were right.

Darkness had fallen long before he wandered back to Mint's house. He was relieved to find all three of his friends there.

"Hey, you okay?" Chester studied his face.

Cress nodded. "Hey. Arche, can you do me a favor? Do you think your broom will carry two more people here from Euclid?"

Chester grinned widely and Mint all but glowed as she put her arms around him and laid her cheek on his shoulder. Arche, who had heard the gist of the situation from Mint, made a thoughtful face.

"I think I can see what can be done. I can always take one at a time… So who should I bring first, your aunt, or your uncle?"

Cress smiled gratefully and Mint opened the embrace to include her. None of them noticed the brief flash of hurt in Chester's eyes as he leaned against the wall.


	4. Chapter 4

Arche's Revelation

"You know, I thought after everything we've all been through together that maybe YOU would have grown up a little bit, jerkface!"

"ME? **I** need to grow up? You're one to talk! For all you're an old hag you're such an annoying brat!"

"Hag! HAG! Oh, I wish I'd pushed you off a cliff when I had a chance, Chester Burklight!"

"Maybe you should have! Then I wouldn't have to listen to your yapping ALL THE TIME!"

A whirl of pink and an angry hiss of wind nearly clipped Cress as he ducked out of the way. He had been on the way to invite Chester to breakfast, but the argument had carried to his ears almost as soon as he stepped out of the house. He sighed, knowing what he'd find when he went inside. Arche was already out of sight.

"Still haven't told her, have you," he said dryly as he stuck his head inside the doorway. Chester was pacing angrily up and down the length of the room, punching the solid walls whenever he passed one.

The response was the same as always too. "It doesn't make a damn difference! She doesn't listen! And it's not me she wants, anyway!"

Cress sighed again and continued the ritual. "How do you know?"

"Because!"

"Because is not an answer. Look, I came to invite you to breakfast. Mint made enough for a small army. I don't know where she thinks she's going to find one to feed, but you may as well chill out and come over. You at least could put a sizable dent in the pile." He carefully did not say that Arche would have held her own quite well.

"Yeah. I'll be there soon," Chester said at last. His pacing and punching had slowed, but he wasn't calm enough to talk to anyone civilly yet. "She gets me SO MAD!" _Slam._

"Looks like the feeling is mutual," Cress muttered unhappily as he made his way back to his own house. There was little he hated more than when his friends fought.

Arche was miles above and away by that point, racing the wind on her broom. The wind was good company. Sometimes, whenever the mood struck Sylph, the Spirit would appear and race with her. Though not an especially good listener (it was Claus' own fond opinion that Sylph was a bit of an airhead) the Wind Spirit did know how to have a good time and often provided a fun distraction.

Fortunately for Arche's mood, today was not one of those times. She didn't have the patience for Sylph or, through the Spirit's messages, Claus. She'd still never forgiven him for laughing at her in the North Forest. Twice. It had eventually grown into a running joke between them. He'd later learned through no intention of Arche's that the sorceress was a lot more talk than action, experience-wise. Somehow, that only made his teasing worse. Still, she vastly preferred his teasing to the hot-tempered cruelty of his great grandson.

She screamed wordless rage as she flew, barely visible were someone to look up. She didn't know or care where she was going, only that she had to get as far away from the jerk as possible.

Why was he so cruel to her? What possessed him to say such hurtful things? Why did he make her so angry? She'd spent a full century of her life passing the time as harmlessly as possible, as virtuously as possible, waiting for him. Periodically, she'd met people who intrigued her – his own father among them – but held herself strictly in check waiting for his love. Did he truly hate her so much?

"What have I done to deserve this?" It was a recurring refrain in the year or so since Mint, Cress, and Chester had returned to this time from their grand adventures together. After all, hadn't she been a loyal friend? Hadn't she given the letter from his father, unread, to Chester? And gone the day before Cress and Mint's wedding to fetch his aunt and uncle from Euclid on her broom? And cooked for him after a full hundred years and change of practice? Hadn't she changed herself enough for him?

Instead, the past year had been full of recriminations, hostility, and name-calling. She'd had a century to grow. He'd had something like a week. It showed.

Finally, her anger burned low, she hung upside down, cruising in lazy circles. "It's not fair," she said aloud. The wind tossed her hair around playfully, the light glistening off it in iridescent reflections. Another refrain. "Was I wrong to love him all this time?"

There was no answer; none of Claus' Spirits were paying attention. That was fine by Arche. The last thing she needed was her old friend's meddling. She was actually quite thankful that he'd never appeared to her as a ghost; it was weird enough when the Spirits came to her with messages from him.

The summoner had formed a bond of friendship with the spirits with whom he'd had a pact, though it had taken time. By the time he had written his book, the Spirits would occasionally appear to him of their own accord, with some informational tidbit or even just for the company. She smiled, remembering a conversation she'd interrupted.

"_But that doesn't make sense," the man was saying as Arche landed. "The vectors involved would cancel each other out."_

"_The rules of water are slightly different," Undine replied. "Remember that the elements are not solid. Even Earth has fluidity. We are not as tightly constrained; though the essential rules apply, we Spirits have found ways to make the laws of physics work in our favor. But we shall continue this another time, Summoner." With that, the Spirit of Water sank back into the bowl and the water was still._

_Claus sighed. "Really, Arche, you couldn't have come an hour later?"_

"_It's already an hour later than we invited her, Claus," Milard tugged on a lock of his hair. "You're the one who threatened that she'd better not be late because you were hungry. And yes, __Arche, I know you were circling for an hour waiting for him to finish his conversation. Frankly, Claus, she's a better friend than you deserve." _

"_And you're a better wife. We know, dear." Arche giggled. She couldn't help it; Claus and Milard just flowed together so well! She envied the relationship they had, how free and easy they were with each other. Their insults carried affection, not the way Chester had treated her! But he was almost a hundred years away, now; maybe she'd learn to understand him between now and then._

"_So you're still harassing the Spirits about the whole states of matter thing, huh?" Arche asked Claus as she helped Milard set the table._

"_Oh, please don't get him started," his wife begged as Claus nodded._

"_It does not make any sense! Why does water exist in all three states of matter? And why is Earth not composed of any one single element? When Earth is molten, like in a volcano, does it come under Gnome's control or Efreet's? For that matter, what state of matter IS flame? Luna is the Spirit of the Moon's energy, but if what I hear is right, and the moon only glows with a reflection of the sun's light, what kind of Spirit is Luna? Light energy, or something else? And if it IS light under Luna's domain, how different from Aska's is Luna's light? And then there's Origin…" _

"_He's been ranting about this since I met him," Milard shook her head. "I told you not to get him started."_

"_I know of one way to get him stopped," Arche said, bringing the laden plates to the table. _

"_Ooh, pancakes!" Claus dug in happily, his diatribe forgotten – for the moment._

"_Works every time," Milard grinned back at her friend._

If only it was as easy as pancakes, Arche sighed. Unfortunately, Chester refused to believe that her cooking had improved, even though he'd eaten it many times. He barely looked at her, and when she did catch him, he would turn it into a glare or a hurt look would cross his face.

She hated to bother Mint and Cress; the wedding had taken place almost two months ago and the couple was finally planning their honeymoon. The problem as Arche saw it was that Cress was rather jaded by travel; he felt that when you've traveled the world so many times over, there's nothing left to explore. Mint argued that it wasn't about exploring the world, it was about getting away from business as usual and enjoying the company of your new spouse. She wanted to visit the North Forest again.

Arche would have liked to know whether or not Unicorn would still appear to Mint; she was a married woman but her heart was as pure as ever. Did that make a difference? Arche's heart wasn't very pure, despite her state of innocence. If nothing else, her frequent threats to Chester's life – which were his own fault, really – would likely keep Unicorn away from her altogether. No matter what Claus thought.

She wished there was someone to talk to. Unfortunately, her closest friends in this time were all in the Toltus area. She only had one other thought, and that would be tough to pull off. Righting herself, she angled her broom towards Ymir. She didn't like to do it often, but enough of the villagers were sympathetic enough to get a message to her mother if she dropped one into the town. She reached into her pack and pulled out one of the gloves she'd gotten from her friends, the gloves her mother had given them to pass on to her. If she dropped one near the inn, her mother would come when she could and meet her at the entrance to the forest; it was a system they'd devised when they first reunited.

She hovered as low as she dared, dropping the glove as close to the inn as she could and praying it didn't get stuck in a tree. Then she flew to the entrance to Ymir to wait.

She didn't recognize the guard on duty that day; he was young and seemed to be fairly new to the job.

"Hi," she said cheerfully, masking her feelings in front of the stranger.

"You shall not pass!" he said ostentatiously. He managed to keep the condescending expression for almost a full minute as Arche gave him a blank stare. Then he snickered. "How'd I do?"

"Oh, VERY well," she said, barely keeping the sarcasm in check.

Either he ignored it or he missed it completely. "Really? Thanks!" Beaming at her, the guard confirmed her suspicions. "I've only been doing this about a week, and you're the first person to show up here. Really I don't know why we need a guard around here. No one ever comes. I've heard they're talking about opening trade to humans, but really the whole thing is silly, in my opinion." He lowered his voice conspiratorially. "I don't know what the big deal is. Humans, half elves, and elves, we should all live together in peace. The world's a harsh enough place as it is," he added sadly.

"I'm Arche. And I'm not allowed in because I'm a halfbreed," the sorceress said.

The guard nodded. "I'm Norbert. No relation."

"No relation?" Arche looked at him blankly.

"Never mind. It's a dumb joke anyway."

"I don't get it."

Norbert sighed. "No one does. It's not much of a joke really. But because of the Lord of the Elves, Brambert, and I'm Norbert… yeah…" his voice trailed off into disappointment. Arche almost felt bad for him. Mostly, she felt confused – and still upset.

"Norbert? Can I ask you a weird question?"

The guard blinked. "Sure, ask away."

"Are all guys really stupid about girls?"

Norbert looked like he might get upset, but then he thought about it for a long minute. "I'm gonna have to say yes. But don't tell anyone. They might take my membership card away."

"Membership card?" Arche was back to staring at him blankly.

He sighed. "Now I know why they tell me not to quit my day job. You know, my membership card, as a guy…? Never mind," he said again as Arche continued to appear lost.

She tried to work up a smile for him but failed. "You're a nice guy. Thanks, Norbert." She rose, looking over his shoulder with relief. A more mature-looking woman, an elf, came towards them.

Realization dawned over the guard's features. "She's your mother."

"Very perceptive," Arche said dryly. "You're cute. Maybe I'll look you up one of these days," she said as her mother opened her arms to her daughter's embrace. Arche went to her and hugged her tightly. "Can we go up?"

The elf nodded. "Your call."

Arche mounted the broom and her mother sat behind her. For once, she said nothing as they flew. As always, Luti let her daughter lead the conversation and choose their destination. She was mildly surprised when Arche landed in the ruins of Midgards.

"You're more upset than I realized, daughter." Dismounting, Luti studied Arche's face. Though they tried to visit at least once a year, Luti realized she hadn't seen her daughter since before her friends had returned to the present from their battle against Dhaos.

"Norbert said that all guys really are dumb about girls."

"Norbert?"

"The new guard."

"He's a surprisingly honest young man." Luti said.

Arche nodded. "Makes one of them."

Luti sighed. "It's still this Chester boy, isn't it."

"Oh, mom, I just don't know what to DO about him anymore! He's been back for a year now, and he's such a big stupid jerk! Why did I have to go falling for such a big stupid jerk…?" The tears were starting, which only made things worse. Arche felt like a fool for crying, and that made her angry, and that made her cry more…

Saying nothing, Luti put her arms around her daughter and let her cry herself out. It took a while. When the sobs finally did begin to subside, Luti spoke. "You've been holding that in for a long time. It isn't healthy."

"I know, mom, but I can't do it in front of him…"

"Have you ever tried to tell him how you feel?"

Arche looked at her mother as though she wondered what planet the woman came from.

"Oh, Arche, in over a century of living among people all over the world, watching them, you still haven't learned about how to deal with your feelings?"

"Well, it's different when it's your own," Arche mumbled.

Luti nodded. "That is true. It's certainly no easy thing."

"There's something else, though, something wrong. It's like he's… Afraid of me? He won't be alone with me at all, if he can help it. And when we start to have a real conversation, it's really nice, until he realizes it's me he's talking to." Arche was pouting, though she didn't realize it.

"Hmm."

"He wasn't that way before. Only since they got back. And for him, it wasn't that much time…"

"Did something happen when you met again?"

Arche shook her head. "Nope. I brought a picnic lunch, and some tools to help them rebuild…" She forced herself to focus on the events of that day. "And there was the letter from his dad… MOM! THE LETTER!" Luti flinched at her daughter's sudden vehemence. "Oh, no, Chester's Dad must have told him something horrible about me... I've GOT to read the letter!"

Luti sighed. "Just take me home first, Arche, and don't forget to tell me what happened later," she said, putting the glove back in her daughter's pack.

Arche flew, fast and furious, straight and true as one of Chester's arrows from Heimdall. She nearly crashed into the new Inn at Miguel. "Mint, I've got to talk to Mint, she'll know how to get it away from him!" she was heard to mutter. Those within hearing range just shook their heads. Everyone knew that magic users were weird.

"Mint!" Arche burst into Cress and Mint's new home – and stopped short. "Oh… uhh.. Sorry… I'll... uhh… later…" Her face burned. Cress and Mint had been peacefully standing in their own living room in their own house, kissing. ~I have GOT to remember to knock!~ Arche chastened herself as she all but slammed the door behind her. The couple barely had time to look surprised.

"Her timing stinks," Cress murmured against his wife's lips.

"Hmmm… Yes, it does. But she hasn't seemed so frantic in a long time. I suppose we'd better see what's wrong," Mint murmured back.

"Now?"

"Hmmm." Mint stole one more gentle kiss, promising her husband a rain check, and then nodded regretfully. "Now." Pulling herself away reluctantly, she adjusted her clothing and opened the door. Arche was halfway across the bridge, looking somewhere between dejected and desperate.

"Arche!" Hearing her name, the half-elf turned around.

"I… I'm sorry," she muttered, blushing again.

Mint shook her head. "It's okay. Cress and I have the rest of our lives to do that," she giggled, blushing in return. "But you seem really upset."

Arche nodded and Mint sobered up. "I was just talking to my mother. Mint, I need to see that letter. In like, thirteen years I never read that letter but I need to read the letter that Chester's dad wrote him. I'm afraid Travis said something bad about me."

Mint raised an eyebrow. Arche had told her quite a bit about Chester's father in his youth; they'd been good friends until Arche realized who Travis actually was. Hard enough for her that he was Claus' grandson, but he was also Chester's father, and that complicated things far too much for her to handle. She was fundamentally innocent, perhaps in some ways more so than Mint herself. Still, Mint doubted that Travis would have said anything bad about Arche.

"He's never even shown us the letter," she said. "I really don't think he'd just give it up like that."

"I know," Arche moaned. "That's why I need help. I need to know what Travis said that made Chester hate me!"

"Hate you? Chester doesn't hate you." ~If anything, quite the opposite, but I can't tell you that for him. It has to come from him.~ "What makes you think Chester hates you?"

"He's always so mean to me! Nothing but insults, all the time, and if I try to say or do something nice he acts like I'm doing it to be spiteful! He's the spiteful one! Stupid jerkface…"

Mint couldn't stand it. She threw an arm around her friend's shoulder and hugged her for a moment. "Hey, he may sometimes act like a… stupid jerkface," she smiled, feeling a little silly as she said the words, "but he is our friend. I wonder," Mint pondered.

"Wonder? Wonder what?"

"Wait here." Mint stepped off the bridge and went back into her home. Arche was left to stare into the water and fret.

Several minutes later, Mint returned with a satisfied smile. "Rather than stealing the letter, I've convinced Cress to talk to Chester about you, something he hates to do."

Arche looked confused at that. "Why?"

Mint thought for a second. "Well, my husband agrees that when the subject of you comes up, Chester acts like a 'stupid jerkface' and he's tired of it. So let's go for a walk and leave the boys to talk, okay?"

Arche nodded and followed Mint. Cress looked after them thoughtfully as he stepped out of the house. He didn't doubt that Chester would be at home, probably fletching more arrows if he'd calmed down enough.

Fortunately for Cress, as he entered the building, he didn't hear the sounds of fury he fully expected. That was a good sign. Maybe Chester would be willing to sit down and talk about things without blowing his top. Cress wasn't optimistic. Actually, at the moment he thought he might prefer to go head to head with Dhaos again. Solo. Unarmed. Without armor. Blindfolded. Chester's moping had really begun to grind his last nerve. And… he really did owe the guy a lot.

"Chess?"

"Yeah, 'm up here."

Cress looked up – his friend did not mean upstairs, he meant leaning on a rafter. Bits of feather and wood drifted down periodically as he fletched an arrow.

"I don't get how you're so comfortable up there," Cress muttered. "Look, I need to talk to you."

"What did I do now?" There was no humor in the question. Chester packed his fletching kit away and dangled from the rafter, dropping lightly to the ground.

"Showoff," Cress said. "It's about Arche."

"End of conversation."

"Chester, I'm not having it this time."

"End. Of. Conversation." The taller young man turned his back on his friend.

Cress sighed. "Look. Just listen to me. I don't want to sleep on the couch but I'm going to if this doesn't get resolved."

Chester looked at him blankly. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Mint's mad."

"Ah."

"So you and I are going to have this conversation because I do not want my wife to stay mad. OR my two best friends."

Chester folded his arms. "So talk."

"Mint says that Arche thinks you hate her."

Chester snorted. "Course I don't hate her. We're friends, right?"

Cress sighed. This was going to be even harder than he'd thought. "Normally, I'd say yes, but especially since our wedding, you've been edgier than ever. Especially around her. Ever since the day she showed up again. For us, it was three months. For her it was over a hundred years. So what changed?"

"Changed?"

"Yeah, you know, what made you act so differently from the time we said goodbye to the time she showed up again?"

"Nothing changed. Nothing at all, Cress."

"What're you mad at ME for?"

Chester shook his head. "All this time and you really don't get it?"

"Get what?"

"You idiot, Arche is in love with you!" Chester was all but yelling, and it didn't help any when Cress stared at him for a long moment, then began to laugh.

He couldn't help it. Chester's outburst was anything but what he'd expected. Was THAT what was driving his friend so crazy all this time? He'd believed Arche was in love with him, Cress? It was too much, and his friend's increasingly incoherent anger didn't help. Every time he looked at Chester, he found himself laughing harder and completely unable to stop.

He had no idea how long Chester stood glaring at him as the tears ran down his face, uncontrollable laughter racking his whole body until his sides hurt and his face burned with the effort of it. Pain eventually helped him gain control, though occasional snickers leaked out for several minutes.

"Are you QUITE done." Chester's voice was solid ice.

"Probably not," Cress snickered. "Oh for the love of… You honestly believe that she's in love with me?"

"Well, obviously."

"Obviously?" Cress parroted. "How obviously?"

"Dammit, Cress, since the moment you came back she's been all over you."

"She's all over everyone. It's the way she is."

Chester shook his head. "Not everyone."

Cress stared at him for a long moment. "Wow. Okay, let's leave that alone for a moment. Where did you get the idea that she's in love with me?"

"Two things. The way she acts around you… And something Dad said to me."

~Ah hah! So Arche and Mint were right… Travis DID say something in the letter.~ "What? Your dad said something?" Vaguely, he thought he remembered something about it, but the last time they'd had this discussion was right before his own wedding, when his uncle had resurfaced.

Chester himself was so upset that he didn't remember reading it to Cress. "In the letter." Chester pulled it out of his quiver. Clearly, he'd read it many times; the years of stiffness were gone and there were signs of wear around the edges. "This part…

_"Don't tell this to Arche. When I first met her I thought she was quite a woman, but it didn't take long before I realized she was waiting for someone special. By now maybe she's even found him again. I say again because, though she never said as much, I think she'd already met him but in the future, which she won't talk about. With any luck, she's come back from wherever she went, and she's helped to raise you alongside us. She left very suddenly when Cress was born; it was the same day we told her you were expected. She never told us why but your mother figures that it was something future-related. Your mother is a very smart woman. And no, dear, I'm not writing that because you're reading over my shoulder as I write. Then again, son, you're reading this now, so something happened that we didn't expect. Or want. Don't get too close to Arche, Chester. I don't ever want to see you hurting._

"Dad knew that she was in love with someone. If it was someone in the future, that leaves out Claus. And I really doubt it's Mint or Suzu," Chester said with a snort.

Cress looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm. If it were Mint, do you think she'd-?"

Chester cut Cress off before he could even finish the thought. "NO," he blurted, red-faced.

Cress snickered again.

"So that leaves you."

Cress stared at Chester for a long time. "You really are an idiot. I mean, don't get me wrong, Chester, you're my best friend and my brother and all kinds of wonderful crap, but you really are an idiot."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Think about it. I'm going to go tell my wife that she better not hog the blankets tonight," he smirked and walked out.

He tried not to wonder what made such a solid thunk against the door; whatever Chester had thrown after him, he'd thrown pretty hard.

Mint and Arche waited in the living room, talking. When Cress walked in, he looked at the two women, sighed mournfully, and admitted to himself that Arche was definitely not into Mint. Oh well. "You're right, Arche. Chester is an idiot," he said with a grin.

"What happened?"

"I think I'll leave him to tell you himself," Cress said as he heard footsteps approaching the front door. To be more accurate, they were stomps.

Wordlessly he opened the door. Framed there was a still-fuming Chester with his arm raised to pound on the door; as soon as he saw the three of them there, he hesitated, flustered.

"I—uh, hi," he said lamely.

"I just remembered, Cress, we need more swords for the school. Come sword shopping," Mint said in a voice that brooked no argument.

Not, of course, that it would stop Cress. "We can go tomorrow, can't we?" He looked torn between a reluctance to get involved and a wicked glee in seeing how his friends finally resolved their issue.

"NOW." Pulling her husband along by the arm, Mint marched out the door, leaving Chester alone with Arche.

Awkward silence reigned. Chester couldn't bring himself to look at Arche, and she was refusing in turn to look at him.

Seconds stretched out ridiculously long. Minutes took years. Arche was beginning to think that the century she'd waited for her friends' return was less interminable. And less tense. But as she was working up towards opening her mouth to reconcile with him, Chester was building back his head of steam.

"DAMN him anyway!" the blue-haired, red-faced young man burst out.

Arche turned to stare at him in bewilderment. Confusion was becoming entirely too frequent a feeling for her tastes, and she was beginning in turn to get annoyed. "What are you talking about?"

"CRESS!" His voice sounded almost unnaturally loud but Chester was beyond caring. "I don't know what he's on about but if he thinks he's going to play stupid games with Mint's heart on the line, he's got another think coming!"

"Mint's heart… Stupid games? What are you TALKING about?"

"Oh, don't pretend to be so stupid, Arche." His heart was breaking even as he spoke. Months of waiting, of hoping, of fighting the knowledge had worn him down.

Her jaw thrust out in an all too familiar expression. She had gone from royally confused to royally ticked off. "Who're you callin' stupid?"

"Look, Arche, it's just you and me. Admit it already."

"Admit WHAT!"

Chester stared at her for a long moment. All the anger ran out of him and he shook his head sadly. "Arche… Please. It's been obvious since I met you anyway. You've always been into Cress. I don't know what you did to him, but I can't believe you'd do that to Mint."

"DO WHAT TO MINT?" All of Chester's anger seemed to have leached into Arche. She stood trembling violently, glaring and red-faced, stalking towards him.

Chester didn't move, his whole body slumping with something akin to despair. "You and Cress."

"ME. AND. CRESS. WHAT."

Finally Chester raised his eyes to stare at Arche, who by now was mere inches away from him. Though he all but towered over her, she still seemed almost intimidatingly large and in his face, except that she wasn't. "You know," he said, "You're not all that beautiful when you're angry."

Arche growled incoherently.

"Look," Chester said as he turned away. "If you don't want to admit it to me, that's fine. But do yourself a favor and either admit it to her, or stop it now."

~This isn't my house to destroy,~ Arche struggled to remember. "I must not call down Judgment on him. Or any other spell. Must not destroy Mint's home. Must not kill him here. Mint will be mad if I get blood all over everything." She was so incoherent with anger she didn't even realize she was muttering that aloud.

Chester looked back over his shoulder at her. "Arche, I can hear you thinking all that. Why do you care about getting blood all over her house when you're already destroying her marriage?" There was only grief in his voice.

"**WHAT!**" Dark clouds of magical energy were gathering. Whether she meant to or not, Arche was risking Mint's home with the sheer force of her wrath.

"You're involved… You and Cress are… Involved," he finally managed to say.

Arche stared at him, boiling for a long moment. Then she did two things he didn't expect.

First, she burst out laughing, much as Cress had before.

She stopped much sooner, though, and the next thing she did was lay an uppercut square on Chester's jaw.

He had a very brief moment to realize just how strong she'd gotten in a hundred years before he lost consciousness.

He wasn't awake for the part where she panicked, praying she hadn't actually killed him even though she wanted to for him even thinking such a thing, and was he really that stupid… She kept up a running monologue as she cast ice arrows into a bucket to put on his face, alternately berating him for his "extreme stupid jerkfaceness" and fretting over having hurt him.

It was to this scene that Mint and Cress returned.

"What happened?" Cress asked, concern and amusement warring for dominance.

"I hit him," Arche mumbled, having ceased speaking when they entered the house.

"You hit him?" Amusement was winning.

Arche nodded. "He thought you and I were… Involved." She made such a face that Mint started laughing.

"It's not funny, I know, but I can't help it," the healer giggled. "Your face… Oh, Arche, did he really say that?"

The embarrassed half-elf nodded.

"Okay, you were both right," Mint admitted. "He is an idiot."

"Wow. I'm impressed, Arche, you KO'd Chester!" Cress was grinning rather broadly. "I hate to say it but he was overdue for that… Did you actually discuss anything?"

Pink hair hid her face as Arche shook her head miserably.

"He just took forever to build up to that little tidbit. He got me so mad. Darn it! Why'd I have to go and fall for him anyway!"

Mint and Cress stared at her in amazement. She'd never admitted it aloud to them, not in so many words.

"What?"

"It's just that you've never said it aloud before," Mint said softly. "Come on, Cress, go put him on the bed at least. I think Chester needs to rest a little before we wake him."

"You mean you want to talk about him so he can hear without opening his yap?" Both women looked at him in surprise. "Well, he has been kinda hard to be around lately. Say for the past year. Hey! I didn't get a chance to tell you this," he said more seriously. "Chester read me part of the letter. You were right. Travis did say something to him about Arche. Let me see if I can remember. I think Travis had a crush on her when he met her or something, but apparently they became friends… He said something about how she was waiting for someone, and when I was born, she stopped talking to them or something. And he said that Chester shouldn't get too close to Arche because Travis didn't want to see him hurting."

Mint looked surprised and thoughtful. Arche looked as though she had been the one punched instead of Chester after all… Her knees gave way under her and she collapsed to the floor.

"Travis…"

"Arche, are you okay?" Leaving Chester on the bed, Mint went to her friend.

Arche shook her head. Finally she raised tear-filled eyes to her friends. "Travis came along when I was ready to give up. He reminded me of Claus at first, and later I thought about it, and he reminded me of Chester even more. Which makes sense really. But we got to be friends. Cress, I was friends with your parents too. But the day after you were born, when you were presented, Travis and Rachel told me they were expecting a child too. They told me if it was a girl they'd name it Ami. But if it was a boy they'd name him Chester. That's when I knew I had to leave. I didn't want to give anything away. But Rachel was on to me.

"We stayed in touch for a couple more years, Rachel and I. She didn't tell Travis because she knew that whatever my reasons were, they were valid. She did tell him to write that letter, and she told him that she was sure that Master Tristan would have a way of finding me. She didn't tell him that she'd send the letter to me directly. He was a good man, but he didn't understand paradox as well as she did.

"If it weren't for Travis, I might have given up altogether. I might not have made it through the century waiting for you guys. I was so lonely. I know there's no way he could possibly have known… that it was his son I was waiting for."

Mint put her arms around Arche, who leaned into her friend's embrace and gave in to the sobs that she'd been holding back. Cress knelt down and enfolded the two of them in his own arms, silently supportive as he rested his chin on his wife's head.

Arche was barely calming down when there was a groan from the bed. "Oof. What hit me? Feels like a house dropped on me."

"Actually, it was Arche. She hit you. It's a good thing, too, because if she didn't, I was getting ready to." Cress lifted his head but didn't otherwise move as he spoke softly.

Chester lifted up onto one elbow and looked at the three of them kneeling on the floor. He snorted in disgust. "So it looks like I was only half right."

Arche tensed. Mint pressed a reassuring hand more firmly on her shoulder. Cress rose, cold anger written all over his body. "Chester, shut up. Before you say one more word, shut up and listen." Shock and betrayal chased each other around the edges of Chester's face. "Arche told us what you said. I didn't know you were such a low little worm that you'd come out with garbage like that. Arche is not involved with me in any way beyond friendship. If she hadn't hit you, I would have myself. You've offended me, you've offended my wife, and you've offended our friend.

"I will not put up with such behavior in my household. You may apologize, or you may leave and not set foot in here again."

Mint and Arche leveled incredulous gazes at Cress, who did not acknowledge them. "Cress…" Mint had never seen him this angry since they'd fought Dhaos. Not even when he'd first heard of the letter from his uncle had he been this furious. Then again, Cress set high value on honor, and theirs had all been called into question by someone he'd counted as a friend.

Chester stared at Cress for long moments. The tension built until Mint thought she would scream.

Finally, blue eyes broke away from ice hard blue eyes. "Dammit, Cress… I'm sorry. But what was I supposed to think?"

"Did it ever occur to you that there was someone else in our party?" Cress kept his voice even.

"Someone else?" Now it was Chester's turn to look confused.

Cress nodded. You remember. It wasn't Mint or Suzu, and it wasn't Claus. So who did that leave?"

Disbelief washed over Chester. Mocking laughter escaped his lips. "Don't pull my leg, Cress." The women huddled, forgotten for the moment, on the floor as they watched the two men. "We both know it couldn't be me."

"Why not?"

Arche and Mint exchanged confused glances. Each thought she had an idea what was being discussed, but neither was entirely sure she wanted to know any more.

"Because why should it be me? Look at me," Chester demanded as he rose, slightly unsteadily, from the bed. "Look at me! Okay, yeah, I'm about as strong as the rest of you… Well, most of the rest of you," he rubbed his jaw, "but I'm nothin' special. Just a regular guy. Well, I'm a hell of an archer. But there's nothing else special about me. I'm no hero. I'm not like you."

Cress took a gamble. "Ever since your sister died, you've gotten such a huge inferiority complex. Do you really need someone to worship the ground you walk on that badly?"

Chester flinched. "What's to worship? What's so special about me?"

As they bandied back and forth, Arche stared at Chester. She was sure, now, that they were talking about her. Cress had been right; Travis had inadvertently warned his son away from her because he didn't want to see his son hurting. A moment of pity for her lost friend flashed through Arche. Quickly it turned into anger. The idiot really had no idea how much she cared for him! Chester had no idea that she'd been waiting for him all this time, or that she'd spent more than one hundred years counting the minutes until she'd see him again. Imagining herself in his arms. Picturing what it would be like to take him up on her broom and showing him her world.

"Everything."

Chester froze. Mint looked at her, startled into letting go, and even Cress turned in surprise.

Arche stood slowly. "Chester, everything about you is special. Cress told us about what you told him from that letter. Your dad made a mistake, Chester. Travis was a good friend, and a good father. He didn't know – he couldn't know that the man I was waiting for all this time was his son."

Cress and Mint were afraid to move.

"His son…?" Chester was back to parroting. For some reason he seemed to have trouble processing Arche's words.

"Yes, Chester," her voice was barely audible. "I never read the letter. I didn't know what he told you, other than that he told you about Claus being his grandfather. I didn't know that he was trying to protect you from me. I wouldn't have thought you'd need it."

"Yeah, me neither," he muttered, rubbing his jaw again. In spite of the ice it was beginning to swell.

"Chester, I…" Arche's gaze dropped.

Mint and Cress held their breaths.

Chester looked up at Arche.

"Chester, I…"

Cress shared a glance with Mint. ~Say it already!~ they willed her together.

Arche bit her lip. Chester straightened, hope struggling in his eyes.

"Chester, I love you."

"Arche," he said. Disbelief still warred with hope.

"Chester, I love you," Arche said again, looking up with triumph in her own eyes. "I love you, Chester Burklight. Chester Burklight, I love you!" By the time she finished speaking, she all but glowed with it. Looking at her, he could not doubt her sincerity. Like magnets, or moths to flame, or water droplets, they were drawn together by forces beyond their comprehension or caring.

"Arche Klein," Chester whispered softly. "I love you."

Cress and Mint, smiling at one another, left the room as silently as possible. Their friends didn't notice.

"Ow," Chester said as he rested his chin on Arche's head, very carefully. Then he smiled. That also hurt, but he didn't care. It was worth it.


End file.
